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Gloombound Mine can be freely entered by Orcs or Blood-Kin to the Orcs by going through Narzulbur. Otherwise, if one does not want to have to retrieve the The Forgemaster's Fingers to gain access, sneak along the ledges on the right side of the entrance to Narzulbur. Alternatively, clear Kolskeggr Mine and talk to the Orc in the Miner's Barracks after turning in the quest in to Pavo. He will give access to the strongholds and will mark two strongholds in The Reach on the map. There is a copy of Heavy Armor Forging in a small hut to the right of the entrance.

Several Orc miners work in the mine throughout the day and won't stop anyone else from mining the ore veins. If one is not an orc or blood-kin, they will make comments about how the Dragonborn needs to leave. The mine itself has sixteen ebony Ore veins, six iron ore veins, three pieces of ebony ore laying on the ground, one ebony ore on a dark barrel, and two pieces of ore in the bucket at the far end of the mine. Taking the pieces of ore from the ground counts as theft and will incur a bounty. There is a bucket with a piece of ebony ore in the cart going across the bridge to the mine. There is an orichalcum ore vein, four pieces of ebony ore, an ebony ingot, a Smithing skill book and an apprentice level chest (under the bed), outside the mine in a small hut. There is also a full set of smithing facilities outside.

This results in a total of fifty-five lumps of ore and an ingot, or twenty-eight ingots when all the ore has been smelted. This is more than enough for a full set of Ebony/Daedric armor including a melee weapon and a bow/shield, or two one-handed weapons for dual-wielding, assuming the other materials needed are on hand.

There are pockets of gas throughout the mine, as little as equipping a fire spell or a torch is enough to cause an explosion. If an explosion injures any of the orcs it will be considered assault and they will attack the Dragonborn as a result. Somehow, the lanterns in the mine do not cause an explosion, even though lanterns are not airtight.

There is a spot in the mine where the ground can fall through and kill or injure miners on the level below and this may make the miners hostile. In addition, should any of the loose pieces of ebony ore be stolen - even if the theft is undetected - a group of hired thugs may be sent after the Dragonborn by Dushnamub. A signed contract will be in their possession as evidence of this. This will occur whether or not the Dragonborn is Blood-Kin to the orcs as the ebony ore is flagged as stolen regardless.

After mining all the ores, it will say 'cleared' on the map; afterwards, 30 in-game days must passso the ores can regenerate.

On occasion, the miners present in Gloombound Mine may stop the Dragonborn from reaching particular ores, ("Someone else is using this"). Unless one is an Orc, or is Blood-Kin, the miner will not move away from the vein, but simply say that the Dragonborn is not welcome there. Because of this, the Dragonborn may choose to kill the miners, and have permanent access to all the veins. If the wait function is used for an hour, they usually will have moved-off.

Alternatively, equip a pickaxe as a weapon and swing it at the rock. This will allow the mining of ore at the same spot as an Orc.

After one month in game-time all ore inside the mine will be restored, there is also currently a glitch with the mine to where once all the ore have been collected, the Dragonborn can wait three days inside the mine, (a total of seventy-two hours of Skyrim time), exit the mine then re-enter. All of the ore will have respawned. The Dragonborn will still have any ore mined before.